'Jobs' biopic seems to 'jump' scenes and distort plot

It was Christmas 2007, I recall having a conversation I had with my then-girlfriend about what she wanted for Christmas. At the time, I was living and working at a radio station in Midland, Texas.

I remember my wife told me that she really wanted an Apple iPod. It had already been out for a few years, but it seemed that during the holidays they were always impossible to find. Fortunately, I was able to pick one up early before they sold out.

It's become a tradition that every year I take the gifts I've purchased to my aunt's house for her to wrap. That year, I brought two bags to my aunt's house to be wrapped, one big white bag and inside of the white bag was a small blue bag that contained the iPod.

On Christmas Day, I drove over to pick up my wrapped presents -- because we all know that a man is terrible at wrapping gifts. As I was gathering my wrapped presents, I noticed all the gifts were rather large -- far too big for a small iPod. I asked my aunt what she had done with the gift inside the blue bag. She looked at me and said, "What blue bag?"

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Frantically, I explained that there was an iPod inside the blue bag that was inside the big white bag. She never saw it. I then asked, "Where's the white bag?" She quickly responded, "I threw it away." I then began sprinting to the garbage can outside only to notice that the garbage had already been picked up for the day. Discouraged and feeling defeated, we jumped into the car and drove to the Otero County Landfill. I really felt we had a chance of finding the bag. After hours of sifting through the garbage, I accepted my defeat and drove back into town.

If you're ever at the Otero County Landfill, keep an eye out for a bright blue bag. You may just find yourself an unopened iPod Shuffle courtesy of Steve Jobs. That is definitely one Christmas Eve I will never forget.

Speaking of which, "Jobs," a biopic depicting the life of the innovative genius and Apple founder Steve Jobs, is directed by Joshua Michael Stern. It tells the story of a young California hippie and his rise up the industrial ladder, which found him creating one of the most advanced technological companies ever -- Apple Computers.

Steve Jobs, played by Ashton Kutcher, depicts how a college dropout with some very talented friends can turn into himself and his buddies into the most celebrated entrepreneurs in American history.

Jobs' right-hand man, Steve Wozniak, played by Josh Gad, is the genius mind behind Apple Computers. Together, the two embark on an incredible journey that will change the way Americans surf the Web and listen to music.

Along the way, the two recruit the help of Daniel Kottke, played by Lukas Haas; Rod Holt, played by Ron Eldard; Bill Fernandez, played by Victor Rasuk; and Mike Markkula, an investor willing to take a chance on a bunch of young kids, played by Dermot Mulroney.

A majority of "Jobs" was filmed in and around Los Angeles County, with a very brief spiritual trip to India. The picture's estimated budget was $8.5 million and opened with a dismal $6.7 million last weekend. To portray Jobs, Kutcher reportedly prepared for the role by following a fruitarian diet similar to the diet Jobs followed religiously.

Some obvious themes that I took from the movie were ascension. Gradually throughout the film, you watch the rise of one of the most genius minds of the 20th century.

Another theme was emptiness. Jobs was constantly striving, even at a young age, to find his true identity by experimenting with LSD, which later in life Jobs attributed the resulting hallucinations to helping him discover the road to Apple Computers.

Jobs was obviously a driven guy determined to change the way we look at computers forever. I could include perseverance/determination to the list of themes. I think redemption, resurrection and rebirth could also be considered by the way he was brought back to save the company after he had been fired some years before. There are so many you can attach to a biopic, but we'll stick with the obvious.

I love biography pictures. One must have lived a very interesting life for someone to want to write an entire screenplay about it. One of my biggest gripes that follows watching a biography are the compressed depictions of these individuals. If someone is important enough to make a movie about, take the time to tell the entire story.

"Jobs," much like other biopics I have seen, tells the story to a certain point before fast-forwarding many years into the future. I felt as if there were significant parts of the film that had been left out of the production that would have been relevant to the plot. In "Jobs," the story begins in the early 1970s and progresses the late 1980s before jumping to 1996. I believe the story eventually takes us to the year 2000. I felt Stern did a decent job showing us that Jobs was much more of a salesman than an innovator. Based on the picture, Wozniak was the brains behind the operation and Jobs -- at least early on -- was a jerk. I really wasn't surprised when the board of directors at Apple let him go.

In this film, we don't see how and why he begins to change his attitude and become a more tolerable person and father. I really wish they would have included those 10 lost years in the picture.

Kutcher did a pretty good job depicting the Apple founder, while Gad was exemplary in his portrayal of Wozniak. Overall, I thought everyone cast in the picture did a good job.

I think the direction of the film caused this picture to be mediocre, which is unfortunate.

I thought the soundtrack was an awesome depiction of the times. The older I get, the more I enjoy classic rock. The cinematography was very creative.

I hate to sound negative, but the director really dropped the ball on this film. There is no reason why this movie couldn't have been just as significant as "42," the biopic about Jackie Robinson.

But my love for biopics is still grand.

Until next week, that's a wrap!

Thoughts or movies suggestions? Email Jason Brockett at incinemaniac@gmail.com. Also, listen to his morning radio program, 6 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday on Country 105.3FM KZZX.